Why Rent from Knetbooks?

Because Knetbooks knows college students. Our rental program is designed to save you time and money. Whether you need a textbook for a semester, quarter or even a summer session, we have an option for you. Simply select a rental period, enter your information and your book will be on its way!

Now in its eighth edition, Reporting for the Media continues its outstanding tradition in journalism education. Providing both students and instructors with a firm foundation on which to build journalistic success, it emphasizes the most important skills and characteristics of effectivereporters--how to be engaged in and curious about the world and how to articulate a good story. Reporting for the Media, 8/e, introduces students to news writing and reporting by focusing on such basics as grammar and mechanics, traditional story structures and styles, interviewing techniques, reporting on speeches and meetings, and common ethical dilemmas. Taking into consideration theincreasingly multimedia nature of journalism, this new edition includes material on broadcast writing and convergence. It also covers prewriting, using the Internet, and computer-assisted reporting. The eighth edition features new exercises in nearly every chapter, expanded coverage ofgrammar--including parts of speech--and thoroughly updated real-life examples and illustrations, many covering issues that have arisen since 9/11. As in previous editions, this book features reading lists, discussion questions, suggested projects, five useful appendices, and end-of-chapterchecklists. Reporting for the Media, 8/e, is an ideal text for introductory news writing and reporting courses.

Preface

xi

The Basics: Format, Copy Editing and AP Style

1

(28)

Producing Copy

2

(1)

News Story Format

2

(2)

Copy-editing Symbols

4

(4)

The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law

8

(1)

Accuracy of Names and Facts

9

(1)

The Writing Coach---The Lucky 13 Ways to Become a Good Writer

10

(1)

Checklist for Copy Preparation

11

(1)

Suggested Readings

11

(1)

Useful Web Sites

11

(1)

Exercises

12

(17)

Grammer and Spelling

29

(30)

The Parts of Speech

29

(7)

Basic Sentence Structure

36

(2)

Active and Passive Voice

38

(1)

Agreement

38

(2)

Ambiguous Pronouns

40

(1)

Plurals and Possessives

40

(1)

``That'' and ``Which''

41

(1)

``Who'' and ``Whom''

42

(1)

Misplaced Modifiers

42

(1)

Dangling Modifiers

43

(1)

Personification

43

(1)

Parallel Form

44

(1)

``Because'' and ``Due To''

44

(1)

Spelling

44

(1)

Grammar Checklist

45

(2)

The Writing Coach---Acronyms Lift Your Writing

Suggested Readings

47

(1)

Useful Web Sites

48

(1)

Exercises

49

(10)

Newswriting Style

59

(31)

Prewriting

59

(3)

Simplify Words, Sentences and Paragraphs

62

(4)

Remain Objective

66

(5)

Checklist for Newswriting Style

71

(1)

The Writing Coach--Find the Clear Path to Writing Glory

72

(2)

Suggested Readings

74

(2)

Exercises

76

(14)

The Language of News

90

(32)

The Effectiveness of Words

90

(1)

Be Precise

91

(2)

Use Strong Verbs

93

(1)

Avoiding Problems in Your Writing

94

(1)

Words to Avoid

94

(5)

Other Problems to Avoid

99

(4)

Checklist for the Language of News

103

(1)

The Writing Coach---Become a Power Lifter When Picking Verbs

103

(1)

Suggested Readings

104

(1)

Exercises

105

(17)

Selecting and Reporting the News

122

(24)

The Characteristics of News

123

(3)

Two Views of 9/11

126

(5)

Types of News

131

(2)

Public/Civic Journalism

133

(2)

Applying the Principles of News Selection

135

(1)

The Concept of Objectivity

135

(1)

Details Newspapers Are Reluctant to Publish

136

(2)

The Importance of Accuracy

138

(3)

Suggested Readings

141

(2)

Exercises

143

(3)

Basic News Leads

146

(35)

The Summary News Lead

146

(2)

Sentence Structure in Leads

148

(1)

Guidelines for Writing Effective Leads

149

(5)

Avoiding Some Common Errors

154

(3)

Apply the Guidelines to Other Kinds of Leads

157

(1)

Checklist for Writing Leads

158

(1)

The Writing Coach---Oh Where, Oh Where Does the Time Element Go?

159

(1)

Suggested Readings

160

(1)

Exercises

161

(20)

Alternative Leads

181

(19)

Criticisms

182

(1)

``Buried'' or ``Delayed'' Leads

183

(1)

Multiparagraph Leads

184

(1)

Using Quotations

184

(1)

Using Questions

185

(1)

Suspenseful Leads

186

(1)

Descriptive Leads

186

(1)

Shockers---Leads With a Twist

187

(1)

Ironic Leads

187

(1)

Direct-Address Leads

187

(1)

Words Used in Unusual Ways

188

(1)

Other Unusual Leads

188

(1)

The Writing Coach---Too Many Words Can Muddle Writing

189

(3)

Exercises

192

(8)

The Body of a News Story

200

(39)

The Inverted-Pyramid Style

200

(6)

The Hourglass Style

206

(2)

The Focus Style

208

(3)

The Narrative Style

211

(4)

Using Transitions

215

(2)

Explain the Unfamiliar

217

(2)

The Importance of Examples

219

(1)

The Use of Description

219

(2)

The Use of Humor

221

(1)

The Need to Be Fair

221

(1)

The Final Step: Edit Your Story

222

(1)

Checklist for Writing News Stories

222

(1)

The Writing Coach---How to Find the Endings to Stories

223

(1)

Suggested Readings

223

(1)

Exercises

224

(15)

Quotations and Attribution

239

(30)

Quotations

239

(4)

Blending Quotations and Narrative

243

(3)

Attribution

246

(7)

Guidelines for Capitalizing and Punctuating Quotations

253

(2)

Checklists for Quotations and Attribution

255

(1)

A Memo From the Editor---Descriptive Writing: Turning a Good Story Into a Great Story

256

(2)

Suggested Readings

258

(1)

Useful Web Sites

259

(1)

Exercises

260

(9)

Interviews

269

(23)

Why Am I Interviewing?

269

(1)

Whom Should I Interview?

270

(2)

When Should I Conduct My Interviews?

272

(1)

Where Should I Conduct the Interview?

273

(1)

What Questions Should I Ask?

274

(1)

How Should I Conduct Interviews?

275

(2)

Writing the Interview Story

277

(1)

The Writing Coach---Figure It: Poetry Can Be in Newspaper Stories

278

(1)

Suggested Readings

279

(1)

Useful Web Sites

279

(1)

Exercises

280

(12)

Writing Obituaries

292

(20)

Types of Death Reports

293

(4)

Jim Nicholson: No. 1 in Obituaries

297

(4)

Obituary Writing Considerations

301

(1)

Checklists for Reporting and Writing Obituaries

302

(1)

Suggested Readings

302

(1)

Useful Web Sites

302

(1)

Exercises

303

(9)

Speeches and Meetings

312

(31)

Advance Stories

312

(1)

Covering the Speech or Meeting

313

(1)

Follow Stories

314

(3)

Internet Brings Pornography to Children, Researcher Says

317

(3)

Remember Your Readers

320

(1)

Adding Color

321

(1)

Checklists for Reporting Speeches and Meetings

322

(1)

The Writing Coach---Go Beyond the Stick

323

(1)

Suggested Readings

323

(1)

Useful Web Sites

323

(1)

Exercises

324

(19)

Specialized Types of Stories

343

(25)

Brights

343

(2)

Follow-ups

345

(2)

Roundups

347

(1)

Sidebars

347

(1)

Checklists for Writing Specialized Stories

348

(1)

A Memo From the Editor---History, Traditions and Culture: Old Glory and Noodle

349

(2)

Suggested Readings

351

(1)

Useful Web Sites

351

(1)

Exercises

352

(16)

Feature Stories

368

(25)

Selecting a Topic and Gathering Information

368

(2)

Types of Feature Stories

370

(10)

Types of Feature Leads

380

(1)

The Body of a Feature Story

381

(1)

The Ending of a Feature Story

382

(1)

What does It Take to Be a Top-Notch Writer?

383

(1)

Suggested Readings

384

(1)

Useful Web Sites

384

(1)

Exercises

385

(8)

Public Affairs Reporting

393

(53)

Crime and Accidents

394

(1)

Covering the Search for a Serial Killer

395

(8)

Local Government

403

(7)

Courts

410

(6)

Checklists for Public Affairs Reporting

416

(1)

A Note About This Chapter's Exercises

417

(1)

The Writing Coach---The ``Knows'' Have It for Police and Court Reporters